Tuesday, October 28, 2014

I have a little secret, it's safe with you right? Of course it is- this is the internet! What better place to put one's deepest darkest confessions?

The package has a person on it, so I can have one!

I eat dog food; wait that came out wrong. I've eaten all of my dogs' food- wait no. I have tried every different dog food and treat I have ever given to any of my dogs. Ah, that's better.

Now I'll admit, that some of said products should have been called "feed" (as in for livestock) instead of "food." And the listed ingredients often included agricultural byproducts and/or mysterious chemicals that would make spelling bee champions cower in fear.

I consider my mutt-face to really be part of the family, not just a critter that the wife lets sleep in my spot. I wouldn't feed anyone else in my family some part-waste-product-part-science-project substance, why should my dog be any exception?

Ry's Ruffery (formerly Ryan's Barkery) is a company that agrees strongly on this idea.

In fact at the top of their website there is the phrase, "Don’t Feed Your Dog What You Wouldn't Eat Yourself!"

This company began when the founder, a ten year old named Ryan Kelly, decided that his puppy simply deserved a better biscuit than what he could find at the pet store. So he went around asking veterinarians for their input, testing flavors, and experimenting in the kitchen with his mom; and before too long, his labor of love to make his puppy happy turned into a bustling bakery.

Three flavors and a ball - somepuppy is about to be spoiled!

We received three flavors of these treats: Pumpkin-Apple, Peanut Butter and Cheddar, as well as a logo'd ball to play with. The Cheddar seems to be Gregor's favorite, and mine as well, but he is more than willing to devour each flavor. There were no losers here (except maybe Greg because now Dad is eating his snacks).

In fact, except for the fact that they are a bit more crunchy than my usual fare, I would enjoy these as a snack anyway. How many dog treats can you say that about?

Greg taking his treat nicely.

My dog Gregor wasn't much for treats before before Ry'st Ruffery biscuits came, but now the mere crinkling of their packaging will have them sprinting across the house to prove what a good boy he is.

He is also now much more motivated to prove that he knows his tricks when these treats are at the end.

Simply put, Ry's Ruffery makes a delightful handmade dog biscuit that your canine companion will treasure nearly as much as you will have from giving it to them.

They take orders for their treats at their website. Each 8oz bag of freshly made biscuits costs $9.50 and they offer free shipping if you order all three flavors for $24.99 total.

Thursday, October 23, 2014

As any man with a face knows, shaving can be a tedious
chore. I found it so much trouble that I have had a full beard for several
years (which brings its own grooming regimen, but that’s not the point.)

When I agreed to review the Wet Shave Club’s subscription box, my
intention was to use it just to shave those areas of my face not covered by
beard. As you will see, the contents of the box changed my mind.

The company offers a monthly subscription box, each one
filled with a variety of shaving soaps, razor blades, aftershaves and other
face-care products. As a bonus, the first box includes a razor and shaving
brush.

The Wet Shave Club
specializes in old-fashioned shaving technology. You won’t find the latest
plastic sextuple-blade shaving behemoth here. The included razor is a heavy
double-sided safety razor, and the brush is needed to generate a lather from
the shaving soaps. (You will have to supply your own mug.)

I was immediately impressed with the quality of the items I
found on opening the box. The razor is all metal, solid and attractive. Also in
the box: The shaving brush, two 1.5-oz. soaps (Red Leaf), two 5-blade packs of blades (Gillette), a bottle of aftershave made
from Bay Rum and witch hazel (Forge
& Foundry), and a pack of alum "matches" from The Legends, London.

The Hardware

The razor: This
is Wet Shave Club’s own branded razor, which they have made just for them. It
features a long, grooved handle to provide a sure grip in wet hands. I found it
to be balanced perfectly, feeling natural in the hand and effortless to use.

The brush: Your
first box includes a boar brush with a wooden handle, and the club promises to
send different brushes as your subscription progresses. Again, the item is
well-made, easy and comfortable to use.

The blades: I received
two types of blades from Gillette, Silver Blue and 7 O’Clock. Both were
effective and comfortable, and the differences between them were subtle. I
found the Silver Blue to be slightly smoother on the skin, but shaving not
quite as close, at least on first pass. There are many different kinds of
safety razor blades, from several manufacturers, and I think finding a personal
favorite is certain to be a matter of experimentation. However, of the two in
this box, I would pick Silver Blue.

The soaps: Wet
Shave Club picked two soaps from Red Leaf: Oatmeal, Milk and Honey, and English
Coast—the latter features “herbs, mosses, meadow flowers and the scent of
coastal air just after a rain.” I have been using the Oatmeal, Milk and Honey exclusively
so far. It smells fresh and slightly sweet, and the lather is rich and
luxurious on the skin.

The aftershave:
Applying the Forge & Foundry aftershave lotion brings a brisk sting to
freshly-shaved skin from the witch hazel, and a pleasant aroma that mixes the bay rum, with its bayberry leaves, and the witch hazel. The sting fades after a minute or two, but the scent
stays with you for a while and elicited an 'mmmm!' from my wife.

The alum matches:
Intended to soothe razor burn and irritated skin, and to stop the bleeding of
minor cuts. The matches work, quite well, but applying them feels a bit
strange, like pressing a pinhead on your skin.

Bear in mind that my collection is just the first box, and each subsequent box should bring
a variety of new things.

The ProcessI had let the whiskers on my neck, under the beard line,
grow for a few days before giving the razor its first test. Following the
included step-by-step instructions (“10 Easy Steps to an Awesome Wet Shave,”) I
got ready to take it off.

Step One: Prep the
razor. Here is where I hit the first snag:Having never used this type of shaver, I had no idea how to load a blade into this thing, and there are
no instructions in the box. A search of the Wet Shave Club website was fruitless,
but I finally found a guide on another site. Including instructions in this
first box would be a very welcome addition. At a minimum they should be
available on the club’s own site.

Once I got the guidance, though, putting in the blade was
easy. You simply unscrew the top from the handle. The top is made of two pieces
that separate as soon as it is disconnected from the handle. You slip the blade
over the three prongs — do be VERY careful to not cut your fingers while doing
this — and reattach everything. As it is recommended to do this every three
days (or shaves) to ensure the blade is always sharp, it’s good that it’s not
complicated.

I received two five-packs of blades, both made by Gillette. With a change every three days, the 10 blades is about a one-month supply. I found the Silver Blue a bit more comfortable to use, but that is a matter of personal preference.

The Wet Shave Club sends out a variety of blades each month. It is good to have the opportunity to try out various options as you work your way toward determining your favorites.The instructions do not say anything about disposing of used blades, but it is best to not put them directly into the trash. Even after they are dulled enough to need replacing, they are still quite sharp and could potentially injure sanitation workers or wildlife scavenging in the landfill. Check out this article from Greenopedia for some easy disposal ideas.

Step Two: Prep the
brush. Just put it in a mug of hot water for a few minutes to soften the
bristles. While that’s underway, you can do step three.

Step Three: Prep your
beard. Basically you want to soften up your stubble. The club recommends a
hot shower, which worked well for me.

Step Four: Build a
lather. Put one of the shaving soaps in the bottom of a mug and squeeze the
excess water out of the brush. Swirl the brush in a circular motion across the
soap until lather builds up. Adding a bit more water will make the lather
foamier. You will probably need to experiment some to find the right level for
your own face.

Now, at this point, because you are about to put blade to skin, you might have noticed an omission in these steps. I will go ahead
and fill it in:

Step Four(a): Put
the lather on your face. (This is important, so assume it even though it isn’t
stated.) Use the brush to spread the lather across the area you plan to shave.
It will not be as thick as you might be used to if you normally use canned
shaving cream or gel, but it will lubricate just fine.

Step Five: Angle your
blade. In order to cut your facial hair, you need to find the angle that
puts the edge of the blade in contact with it. The club recommends starting
with the handle parallel to the floor and then moving it slowly to point
towards the floor while pulling the razor down your face, until you find the angle
where the blade is cutting the hair. This method
worked well.

Step Six: Shave.
Do not press in, as you have to with a cartridge razor. The weight of the razor
and gravity will do the work. Shave with smooth strokes, with the grain.

Step Seven: Rinse
your face and get ready to do it again.

Step Eight: Reapply
lather and shave again. Assume you will need at least two passes each day,
and maybe a third if (like me) you had more than a day’s worth of growth.

Step Nine: Third pass
if needed, then rinse with warm water and again with cold water. The second
rinse closes your pores.

Step Ten: Apply
aftershave. Each month, Wet Shave Club will provide an option or two for after shave care.

How It Went

Because my first trial of these products was on a patch of
several days’ growth, even three passes was not quite enough to eradicate it.
Also, while cutting a sharp beard line is a challenge under any circumstances
(this is why bearded men pay barbers for the occasional reshaping), the safety
razor does not allow great precision, at least not in my unpracticed hands.

Obviously, using the things in this box for beard
maintenance was not going to be a fair test, so I decided to go clean-shaven.

1. Remove most of beard, 2. After 3 passes. 3. After next morning's shave - fully cleanshaven! No nicks!

First, I used my electric trimmer to get rid of as much
growth as possible, getting it down to the equivalent of a day or two’s worth
of stubble. Then I returned to the step-by-step guide, giving myself three
passes and a little extra attention on the hairs right beneath my nose, which
are both coarse and hard to reach with the blade.

By the end of three passes, I had a little remaining stubble
but had gotten almost all of it. The next morning, I gave it two more passes and emerged fresh and clean. Since
then, I’ve kept it up and a plan to for a while. After the first two days, I've found that a single pass is often enough, but I usually do two.

The alum matches serve the same purpose as a styptic pencil, in a more portable form. If you get a nick, wet the head of one and rub it over the cut a couple of times; the bleeding will usually stop immediately. You can also use them to soothe irritated skin after a shave. I have given myself a minor cut or two and the matches work perfectly.

This has been a new shaving experience for me. In the past I’ve
always used either triple-bladed hand razors or electric shavers, and never
been happy with the results. This safety razor and its single-edged blade gave
me a better, and much more comfortable, shave than anything else I’ve ever
used.

As an added bonus, the process takes a bit more time than
most shaving methods, and requires a few steps to be followed, so it creates a
small personal ritual and a meditative space, a nice daily touchpoint in this
chaotic world.

The Details

The Wet Shave Club
offers its monthly subscription box at four different prices, depending on the
length of the subscription: It is $29 for one month: $24 a month for three
months; $22 per month for six months, and; $19 a month for a year. Gift subscriptions are available, and shipping is
free within the continental U.S.

The high quality razor and shaving brush alone make it
worthwhile to get at least one box. The promise of a monthly assortment of
products to try, including soaps, aftershaves and more brushes, for just $19 a
month with a one-year subscription is pretty enticing too. The Wet Shave Club selects products of high
quality that should appeal to any man who wants to pay attention to good
grooming. Wet Shave Club WebsiteWet Shave Club on Facebook

The Wet Shave Club is providing a 10 percent discount to our readers. Just enter RCH10 as a discount code during the checkout process.

They are also offering one box to our readers as a giveaway, featuring the products involved in this review. This giveaway is for US residents and will end just before midnight ET on November 6.

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment in this entry as instructed by the Rafflecopter, then leave the name you commented under and your email in the box in the Rafflecopter entry. (This lets us contact you if you win!) This will open up additional optional entries to increase your odds of winning.

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Let me preface with this: one of my hobbies is hunting wild
mushrooms. Well, I suppose it’s less of a hunt and more of a gather. This is
considered somewhat of a weird hobby to most Americans, but according to the
residents of the little Appalachian town in which I live, obtaining at least
half of your food from the forest is not at all an uncommon practice. There is
free food outside, people! It’s all over the place! You just have to know what
the edible stuff looks like and you can eat it. It’s amazing.

My boyfriend, however, is like most Americans when it comes
to mushrooms--though to his credit, he has come to politely tolerate my hobby. He can successfully identify the grocery-store varieties, but remains suspicious of
my outdoor finds.

I plop a 4-pound bag of flabby orange fungus down on the
kitchen counter. “Dinner!” I said.

People are scared of wild mushrooms, because they don't know enough about them to safely identify them. They see one and think
that if they eat it, they will probably die, or at very least, it’s gonna be
nasty. But plenty of those exotic gourmet mushrooms you hear about at expensive
restaurants or occasionally glimpse at the farmer’s market or fancy section of
the grocery store are, in fact, (gasp!) wild. As in, came from outside. In the
woods. Picked by someone wandering around with a basket and possibly (seriously)
a trained sniffer-pig. And you may have
already eaten one…without even knowing it! (DUN dun…DUUUNNNN!!!!)

The reason for this is because many delicious gourmet
mushrooms can’t be effectively cultivated. Some have what is known in mushroom nerd-language
as a “mycorrhizal association” with specific trees—essentially a symbiotic
relationship with the tree’s root system. Some are parasitic and must squeeze
the last living breath from their host tree and feast on its remains in order
to recycle it into sweet, sweet deliciousness for your dining pleasure. Many
are waaay too much of a production to cultivate yet plentiful enough in nature
that buying them from the dude with the basket is much more plausible,
practical, and cost-effective. The good news is that you too can get your own
delicious wild gourmet mushrooms, with no cost to you!

Meet the Chicken-of-the-Woods Mushroom (that’s Laetiporus sulphureus to you, bub). This
is the best noob-mushroom ever, because it’s practically unmistakable and has
no poisonous look-alikes.* It’s big, bright freakin’ orange with yellow or
sometimes white pores (rather than gills) on the underside, and grows in huge
shelf-like stacks on hardwood (almost always oak) trees in Eastern North
America in the fall. You can usually see it from halfway across the woods,
because its size and color make it really difficult to miss. It’s called
“Chicken-of-the-Woods” because it tastes like…you guessed it…chicken. It’s got
a meaty texture and even the “stringiness” of chicken breast. You can pretty
much cook it in any manner that you can cook chicken. And like chicken breast,
it’s a bit bland and needs a little seasoning.It has officially become the BF’s new favorite mushroom. Success!

*On the Western portion of the continent and in the Great Lakes region, there are other types of “Chicken-of-the-Woods” that grow on conifers and eucalyptus trees. These have been associated with sometimes causing gastric upset (as in, unpleasant amounts of time spent in the bathroom hugging the bowl) in sensitive people, especially when consumed raw or undercooked. It’s uncertain why; most people eat it with impunity. Only eat young, tender, brightly colored Chicken-of-the-Woods, and cook your mushrooms thoroughly. Trying a small amount at first to see if it agrees with you before scarfing a huge plateful is always wise practice when it comes to any foraging, especially for mushrooms

1. Sauté the mushrooms in butter or oil until browned. Don’t
overdo it on the grease; this mushroom will suck it up readily like a sponge.
Deglaze the pan with broth and set aside.

2. Saute the vegetables in butter or oil until crisp-tender.

3. Add chili, garlic, and ginger and cook for 1-2 minutes more.

4. Add the curry paste and lime juice and stir to coat. 5. Stir in coconut milk thoroughly. Add cilantro and Thai basil
and simmer for 5 minutes. Correct the seasoning. Add the “chicken” back to the pan
and simmer for 2-3 minutes more, until hot. Serve over hot cooked rice. Done!Enjoy this delicious meal, and the well-earned sense of satisfaction that comes from sucessfully foraging for your own dinner!